Apparatus for dyeing or bleaching.



No. 736,183. PATENTED AUG. 4, 1903. A

F. A. WELLER. A APPARATUS PORVDYBING OR BLEAGHING.

APPLICATION TILED OGT.19. 1899.

NO MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET lwill ml 11 A IN A /7. In

Jm up x 5m nanklin A. Weller No. 735,183. PATENTED AUG. 4, 1903.

P. A. WELLER. APPARATUS FOR DYEING 0R BLEAGHING.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 19. 1899. N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Elma/who:

UNITED STATES Patented August 4, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

APPARATUS FOR DYEING OR BLEACHING.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent -N 0.7 35,183, dated August4, 1903. Application filed October 19, 1899. Serial No. 734,071.(No'modeL) To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANKLIN A.WELLEE, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Philmont,in the county of Columbia and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Skein Dyeingand Bleaching Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus upon which skeins of yarn may bemounted and by which the yarn will be dipped into a vat or tank fordyeing, bleaching, or the like.

The objects of my invention are to provide an apparatus upon which theskeins of yarn may be conveniently mounted, carried into, and removedfrom the vat and reversed in position end for end at the bottom and topof the carrier with a minimum expenditure of time and by which theskeins will be held in suitable position to insure proper dipping andtrailing in the vat and be automatically shifted on the skein-sticks ina manner to insure access of the liquid uniformly to all parts of thematerial.

To these ends my invention consists in a suitable carrier upon whichskein-sticks may be mounted at suitable points, said carrier beingpreferably in the form of two parallel endless chains provided withadjustable clips for supporting the skein-sticks, guides within andoutside of the vat under and over which, respectively, the carrierpasses, and preferably consisting of sprocket wheels mounted upon acommon axle and upon which the chains travel, and a drag bar or bars orretarding device over which the skeins of yarn drag during their circuitfor the purpose of shifting and turning them upon the skein-sticks,said'drag-bars preferably consisting of sleeves surrounding the axles ofthe sprockets, so that the shifting and turning of the yarn occur at thepoints where the carrier passes its guides.

My invention further consists in the particular construction of theclips for holding the skein-sticks, each of which comprises a U-shapedbracket formed on one side with a diagonal slot providing a bearing fora skeinstick trunnion formed in the outer ends of its arms with seats orrecesses to receive the edges of the chain links and adj ustably clampedupon the latter by means of a screw extending between its arms and aspringkeeper mounted upon the clamping-screw as a pintle and heldagainst the trunnion of the skein-stick when in the bearing through themedium of a spring.

My invention further consists in providing the skein-sticks withdeflecting-guards at their ends, extending from the flanges diagonallyinward in a manner to prevent the yarn riding up to the flanges andbecoming entangled therewith orgetting beyond the same.

My invention will be fully understood upon reference to the accompanyingd raw ings, in which- Figure 1 is a sectional end elevation of a vat ortank to which my invention is applied. Fig. 2 is a detail perspective,on an enlarged scale, showing a portion of one of thechains with theadjustable clips mounted thereon. Fig. 3 is an elevation in a plane atright angles to Fig. 1, showing a plurality of apparatus applied to avat to illustrate the position of the skeins upon the carrier and thepassage of one of the skeins over a drag-bar or retarding device. Fig. 4is an enlarged detail view of one end of a skein-stick constructed inaccordance with my invention, together with the supporting-clips on thechain, the clip being shown in vertical section. Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8are sectional views representing various forms of skein-sticks.

1 represents a vat or tank, and'2 a carrier in the form of parallelendless chains passing around upper and lower guides, of which the lowercomprises sprockets-3, mounted upon an axle a in bearings 5 within thevat 1, while the upper guide comprises sprockets 6 upon an axle 7,mounted in suitable shaft-hangers 8. The lower bearings 5 are preferablymade vertically adjustable in the vat through the medium of screws 9,threaded in brackets 10 and fixed by jam-nuts 11.

12 represents clips mounted at suitable points upon the parallel chains2 to provide bearings for the trunnions of skein-sticks 13, upon whichare mounted any suitable number of skeins A. I

14 represents drag-bars or retarding devices located in the path of theskeins in position to exert a dragging or turning effect upon the skeinsas they pass. Said drag-bars are preferably located at the turning-pointof which is well understood in the art. This result has generallyheretofore been accomplished by the use of special mechanism forengaging the flanges or other parts of the skein-sticks at some point orpoints in their travel. I find in practice, however, that this result isfully accomplished by having the skeins pass over the drag bars orsleeves 14 in the manner suggested in Fig. 3. As this action takes placethe inner side of the skein strikes the sleeve first and is tightened,while the outer side momentarily remains slack. The result is that thereis a slight advancementof the skein in the nature of an endlessbelttravel upon the skein-sticks, which action is followed by the contact orstretching of the outer side over the drag-bar, and one side of theskein is caused to roll slightly upon the other and the strands arespread out, so that the whole efiect of the drag-bar upon the skein isnot only a longitudinal shifting, buta turning or twisting. This actionbeing repeated each time the skein goes around the drag bar or sleevecauses the strands of the skein to be effectually shifted to the fullestdesired extent, and I am thus enabled by a most simple mechanism toaccomplish that which has heretofore been accomplished only by the useof complicated mechanism.

The shape of the skein-sticks is not material and may be varied at will.Several suggested shapes are illustrated in Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8.

The apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1 may be arranged in any desirednumber, as suggested in Fig. 3 the number being limited only by thelength of the vat, as will be readily understood. The shafts 4, withtheir sprockets 3, act as idlers, motion being preferably impartedthrough the shafts 7, which are driven through the medium of a clutch15, controlled by shipping-levers 16, fulcrumed at 17 from a main shaft18, running transversely to the ends of the shaft7 and impartingrotation to the latter through small gearwheels 19 and large gear-wheels20.

The construction of the adjustable clips 12 will be understood from Fig.2, in which it will appear that each comprises a U-shaped bracket 22,provided in one of its arms with a diagonal bearing-slot 23 and [on theinner faces of the outer ends of its arms with recesses or seats 24. forthe rounded sides of the links 21 of the carrier 2. The clips areclamped to the links 21 through the medium of screw 25, headed in one ofthe arms and threaded in the other. From the construction of the partsit is obviously an easy matresins ter to loosen the screw 25 slightlyand to shift a clip 12 up or down on the chain at will. 26 represents akeeper pivoted upon the screw 25 through the medium of its bearing 27and forced in a direction to hold the trunnion in the slot 23 by meansof a spring 28, one end of which engages the keeper at 29, while theother engages beneath a fixed part of the clip, as shown at 30. The endof the keeper 26 protrudes beyond the clip, so that the trunnion may bereadily inserted by forcing it up beneath the keeper and then into theslot. It is to be understood that the clips are made in pairs -that isto say, with their bearing-slots on opposite sidesso that when a pair ofclips is placed upon the parallel chains their bearings will be opposedand for the further purpose of admitting the clips to be arranged insets of four, with the diagonal slots of the clips mounted upon the samechain extending in opposite directions. This will be understood uponreference to Fig. 2, from which it will also be seen that the weight ofthe skein will hold the upper skein-stick trunnion in the diagonal slotsby gravity, while the trunnions of the lower skein-sticks, which bear noweight, will be held in place by the keepers 26. It thus becomespracticable to adjust the clips and space the sticks apart, so as toallow slack in the skeins and permit them to make the turns around thedrag bars 14. This relation between the clips continues after the chainsround the upper guide and travel downward, for the parts are thencompletely reversed and the lower clips on the upward movement nowbecome the upper clips on the downward movement and support the skeins,and their diagonal slots are in position to support the skeinsticks bygravity.

It is desirable in the treatment of skeins as above described to providesome means for preventing the strands riding up to and over the flanges31 of the skein-sticks 13. To

insure against this, I employ diagonal guards 32, which extend from theflanges inward at an angle which will prevent the skeins riding up andwhich will keep the skeins at an ample distance from the flanges toprevent interference.

In practice all of the working parts of my apparatus are preferably madeof bronze or other metal non corrosive in the chemicals through whichthey pass.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as newtherein and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A yarn-dipping apparatus comprising a vat, an endless carrier havingtrunnion-bearings,skein-sticks trunnioned in the said trunnion-bearingsand adapted to carry skeins'of yarn by both ends thereof, guides aroundwhich the carrier passes,and drag-bars mounted coaxially with saidguides and whereby the skeins of yarn are shifted and their skeinstickslcaused to turn with the ends of the ICC IIO

skeins on their trunnion-bearings; substantially as described.

2. In a dipping apparatus, the combination of a vat, a pair ofsprocket-wheels mounted upon a common axle within the vat, a pair ofsprocket-wheels mounted upon a common axle outside the vat,endlesschains passing around the corresponding sprockets of the respectivepairs, clips fixed upon the chains at corresponding points and providingthereon opposite trunnion-bearings for skein-sticks, and sleevessurrounding the axles between the sprocket-wheels and providingdrag-bars for the skeins at the turning-points in the travel of thechains; substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. In an apparatus of the character set forth, a skein-stick clip orsupport constructed with a trunnion-bearing, clamping-arms, and a screwfor drawing said arms together upon the skein-carrier; substantially asset forth.

4. In an apparatus of the character specified, a skein-stick clip foradjustable attachment to an endless chain, constructed of a U-shapedbracket provided with seats on the opposite faces of its outer ends, andwith a trunnion-bearing in one of its arms, and a clamping-screwextending between said arms and drawing them inward; substantially asset forth.

5. In a skein-stick clip for yarn-dipping apparatus, the combination ofthe U-shaped frame provided with a bearing in one of its arms, theclamping-screw, and the springkeeper mounted upon the clamping-screw andoverlapping the trunnion when in the bearings; substantiallyas setforth.

6. In a skein-dipping apparatus, a skeinstick provided with end flangesand inwardlyinclined guards extending from the outer portions of theflanges to the sticks at an angle that prevents the strands of the skeinriding up on them to the flange; substantially as set forth.

7. In an apparatus such as described, the combination with a vat ortank, an overhead shaft, sprocket wheels carrying sprocketchainstraveling over said wheels and into the vat or tank, and yarn-stickssupported by said chains; of a drag-bar or retarding device lying in thepath of the yarn mounted on said sticks, and with which said yarncontacts to change the position of the yarn with relation to the sticks.

S. In an apparatus such as described, the combination with a tank, theoverhead shaft, sprocket-wheels,carrying chains passing over saidsprocket-wheels and into the tank, and yarnsticks mounted on saidchains; of a sleeve on a shaft intermediate the sprocketwheels, withwhich the yarn on the sticks contacts to retard one side of the yarn andchange its position with relation to the sticks.

Signed at Washington, District of Columbia, this 19th day of October,1899.

FRANKLIN A. WELLER.

Witnesses: l

HERVEY S. KNIGHT, EDWIN S. CLARKSON.

